So much so that the family patriarch and former nightclub boss John Ibrahim was immortalised in television series Underbelly: The Golden Mile. But the story didn’t end when the credits rolled, and the real life clincher appears to have been saved for coming days.

Mr Ibrahim’s luxurious residence in Dover Heights, one of Sydney’s most exclusive suburbs, was this week ransacked by police as part of the operation targeting organised crime and a high profile drug smuggling syndicate.

A total of 17 people were arrested as part of the sting: nine men and one woman in Sydney, five people in Dubai and two people in The Netherlands.

John Ibrahim is not under suspicion but his brothers Fadi and Michael Ibrahim, model girlfriend Sarah Budge, and his ‘secret son’ Daniel Taylor, 26, have been charged following the trans-international bust. A cousin of the Ibrahims, Sleiman Tajjour, the former national president of the Nomads bikie gang, was also charged following the raids.

Fadi, often described as the most reserved and private of his five high-profile siblings,

and his glamorous wife Shayda were infamously shot in an attempted gangland hit at their luxury Castle Cove mansion eight years ago.

“The people we allege are part of this syndicate that are well-known to law enforcement. For decades this group has flaunted their wealth and activities, telling the community they were untouchable,” Mr Gaughan, the national AFP manager for ­organised crime said.

Mr Gaughan said it was an “outstanding success” that so many members of the Ibrahim family had been arrested and heralded it as a “great day for law enforcement”.

The arrests came after more than 570 AFP officers took part in Tuesday’s dawn raids across Sydney, seizing $5.45 million that police allege was the proceeds of crime. The drugs they seized had an estimated street value of $810 million, police said.

Mr Ibrahim’s 27-year-old model girlfriend Sarah Budge, who owns Crane Bar in Potts Point, posted a glamorous photo from a modelling shoot on Instagram just days before her Tuesday arrest.

She was later charged with one count of possess firearm not authorised to do so by licence or permit contrary to section 7A (1) of the Firearms Act 1996 (NSW). The maximum penalty for the offence is five years imprisonment.

Ms Budge was today granted bail after appearing via audiovisual link at Central Local Court in relation to the subsequent charges.

The commonwealth prosecutor did not oppose bail, which was granted with strict bail conditions by Magistrate Clare Farnan.

She must surrender her passport, not leave NSW or go within 500 metres of an international point of departure, report to police three times a week and hand over a $50,000 security.

John Ibrahim’s son Daniel has also been arrested and charged with a range of offences following the police raids.

The ex-serviceman became known as Mr Ibrahim’s ‘secret son’ because he was brought up by his mother Melissa Taylor on the Gold Coast while being secretly supported by his father since his birth in 1990.

He moved to Sydney in 2010 and was soon backed by his father to take on the former tiny off-street Kings Cross bar Beach Haus after building up a reputation as a Glitter Strip socialite.

It became one of the hippest bars in the nightstrip attracting visiting stars such as Leonardo DiCaprio, Lukas Haas and rapper Chris Brown.

Mr Taylor was this week charged with conspiracy to import drugs and dealing in the proceeds of crime over his alleged role in transferring $2.25 million for the purchase of tobacco. He was today granted bail after appearing via audiovisual link at Central Local Court today. His family will pay a $630,000 security deposit.

Another man, 24-year-old Mohammad Jeda, faced the same court via AVL charged with supplying almost 6kg of methamphetamine at Merrylands in March. He did not apply for bail and it was formally refused.

Ms Budge, Mr Taylor and Mr Jeda are due to return to court on November 1.

The Ibrahims’ connection to Kings Cross figures extends beyond members of their own blood line.

Georgina Freeman, widow of underworld figure and racing identity George Freeman, dubbed “the undisputed Queen of the Cross”, once revealed she had a crush on Mr Ibrahim.

Mrs Freeman, who has two sons that own Sydney nightclubs, described the man who mentored her boys for a decade as not unlike her late husband.

“I always thought he was gorgeous,” she said in a 2010 interview with The Australian Women’s Weekly.

“ I think John once said to me, ‘I always had a crush on you when I was young’ ... John was so good looking. He’s generous like George, he’s funny like George, I guess he’s a playboy like George was.”

She said Mr Ibrahim offered to help her after her husband died and that he become a father figure to her sons Adam and David Freeman.